I'm a huge Essie fan (as if you couldn't tell from my last polish post) and I'm in love with this new Autumn release. Well except the blue one, I don't know what it is but I'm just not a fan of dark and navy blues on my nails. However, I can never get enough of the mints and baby blues! So I'm sorry that this post won't feature Bell-Bottom Blues (not liking the 70s fashion revival either, so it's probably fate), but I'm not going to buy a polish I'll never wear, also Color Binge nearly didn't make it either, but more on that later.
A little disclaimer, I have colour corrected/brightened my photos when I saw fit, to better represent the actual colour on my nails and not the weird morphed version the camera can sometimes create. Hope you guys don't mind, I've tried to make them as accurate as possible.
Essie - Color Binge (Autumn/Fall 2015)
When I first set my eyes on this Autumn release, I did not pick up this colour. Why? Because I don't tend to gravitate towards reds, I like them on my nails, don't get me wrong! But I already have an orange based one (Essie - Red Nouveau), a blue based one (Mavala - Paris) and an unusual one/coral (Maybelline - Hot Salsa, as talked about in my previous post) so I just didn't feel the need for another one. Plus looking at other blogs, no-one thought that this was a particularly unusual or must-have red! So I didn't think anything of it, picked up the other four, you see in the pictures, and went on my merry way.
One month later, we were lucky enough to get this release in Belgium pretty simultaneously to the lucky girls in the US, so quite early on. There I am, browsing Pinterest, and I see this image of the perfect red manicure holding an Autumn leaf and now I'm really craving a bright/fresh orangey red. This is where Color Binge comes in, I went back to my local Di (our beauty shop chain in Belgium) looking for "that" red. I considered Clambake but I just couldn't get past the name (it really grosses me out for some reason, why couldn't it be called Lobster For Two or something...nope that also grosses me out and I like seafood). So Color Binge it was (I didn't pick up Fifth Avenue because it's too similar to Red Nouveau) and no regrets! It's the perfect juicy fresh red I was looking for, a bright poppy colour some might say.
APPLICATION
- 2 coats (no base as swatch), could be a 1 coater if you fancy more of a jelly finish. As it is quite jelly-ish you can still see a bit of the nail line after 2 coats but nothing too noticeable. Beware though because it's quite a liquid formula and I found that a lot of excess comes on the brush but wiping said brush twice (once on each side) before application should prevent major flooding from occurring. Other than that; lovely formula, really glossy finish (hence the juicy effect).
So all in all, well done Essie, for mind reading/releasing a colour I would be craving this Autumn without even realising it, until half way through it (Autumn starts 1st of September in my nail calendar)!
Essie - With The Band (Autumn/Fall 2015)
I love this colour, it's a touch darker than In Stitches, I would describe this as a dusky brick red, i.e. a red with a lot of brown in it. However, I was not impressed with the longevity of this one. I applied this before bed ready to photograph it the next morning (I had lost my daylight at this point), next morning comes and I see 2 chips, not impressed at all (I obviously filled them in for the photo) but I would have to test again with a base coat this time and see how it fares. So for me this is the chipper of the bunch :/
APPLICATION
- 2 coats (no base), could be a 1 coater. Smooth, easy to apply, quick drying. Lovely plastic-y finish, here we go again, gel finish Emma...gel finish! Such a shame about the chipping but I'm sure if you use a base and top coat you should be fine. I personally never use a top coat unless I want to change the finish of a polish, because I don't like the amount of coats I end up with on my nails. So all my photos will never have a top coat (which mean you will see the accurate finish of polishes I swatch).
Essie - Leggy Legend (Autumn/Fall 2015)
This was the colour I was the most intrigued about from the Collection, because it just screams Autumn to me. But I was disappointed, nothing to do with the formula (no chips) it's just too brown? For my liking, I don't know, I haven't pinpointed why I don't like it as much as I thought I would...too bronze? Really don't know.
APPLICATION
- 2 coats, dries way matter than the other polishes from the Collection. Very easy formula could be a 1 coater. It has a slight pink shimmer that the camera hasn't really picked up, mind you it's very discreet, so not surprising.
Essie - Frock'n Roll (Autumn/Fall 2015)
This one is a tricky one to describe, it looks like a black creme with silver micro-shimmer in the photo. But when you look closer you realise it's actually a very dark aubergine colour with said silver micro-shimmer. The photo on the right gives a better idea of the hint of aubergine you get from this polish; the thumb and upper left corner of the bottle being the prime examples. It's very pretty, and by far the most unique colour of the Collection. If you were to pick up one colour from this Collection, I would make it this one (if you like your darks that is) mind you, the next one is also my favourite, so it's up to you and what you look for in your polishes ;)
APPLICATION
- 2 coats (no base), could be a 1 coater. Easy to use with a great formula, no patches/sheerness on application, nice glossy finish.
Essie - In The Lobby (Autumn/Fall 2015)
When looking at other peoples' swatches online, this was the one I was the most excited to own. It your stereotypical Autumn shade though and unfortunately because it has a more difficult application than the other ones in the Collection you end up with a lot of coats which makes the polish quite dark on the nail. The end result is very similar to when I apply Revlon's Vixen, if you own that one, I don't think you need this one too (also very close to Bahama Mama when wearing multiple coats).
APPLICATION
- 3.5 coats (no base) a bit patchy, some nails needed more coats than others to get an even opacity on all nails, hence the 0.5 because some needed 4 and others were good on 3. But unfortunately, this means you can't really get the lightest colour from the bottle and it ends up looking almost black on the nails (which I'm not a fan of). It's the same problem I've noticed with Soulmate, in every swatch I look at online the opacity differs on every nail, I have yet to see a perfect swatch of that polish, hence why I refuse to buy it even though it's a staple amongst many personal Essie Collections.
But where the opacity of this one fails the longevity is amazing (I've noticed that too, with other Essie polishes). When I apply 3 or more coats of my Essie polishes, they last a lot longer with no chips, than many of my other polishes. Which is contrary to the prevailing belief/knowledge that the more coats you apply, the more likely you are to get chips. Still on the upside, this polish has a lovely glossy/gel finish which I really love, and which has meant that I've already worn it twice as a full manicure. But as I've only just recently bought Color Binge and I'm craving a brighter colour; I have a sneaking suspicion this will be knocked from that pedestal pretty quick!
So there, you have it, which one was your favourite from this Collection?
Which one have I tempted you to buy?
What other Collections are you most looking forward to this year?
I'm still waiting on the OPI Venice Collection to finally make it to Belgium. OPI has definitely got to up its game when it comes to release dates outside of the US and UK, I'm afraid. Because Essie has it going on, I've already purchased one from their Winter Collection, which is from their Cashmere Matte range (I know the US got it over a year ago, but the UK hadn't).
xxxemma